She Knits Too!

My Miette

I used to engage in a variety of crafty hobbies when I was younger. Knitting, crochet, sewing, beading, macrame (am I dating myself?), lost-wax casting, stained glass, leather work, furniture building. I actually considered taking an arc welding class at one point. Then I had my son and I decided there was no time for any of that nonsense until he grew up and went away to college.

That day actually came to pass about 10 years ago. I waved him off, dried my eyes and began dragging out my boxes of supplies.

Good cropped length for high-waisted pants. I added an extra pattern repeat or it would be even shorter.

I became enchanted with sewing a couple of years ago. Before that I was on a real knitting jag. I spent tremendous amounts of time wandering around yarn shops, squeezing the skeins. I went to knitting conventions and knitting retreats. I made a bunch of fabulous yarn-y friends that I still love to hang out with. I even completed a few sweaters and a bunch of socks. I still have a pretty beefy yarn stash, and probably 5 sweaters in various states of almost-doneness.

I went to a knitting retreat last January and, rather than taking along one of my many WIPs, I cast on the Miette cardigan by Andi Satterlund. This baby was so quick to do that I had almost finished it by the end of the weekend. Then it sat for a year waiting for those final touches - button bands and buttons. Just a couple of weeks ago I had an attack of finish-itis and took care of those last bits.

I used some forest green Cascade 220 from the nether regions of the stash. It's a color I'll get a lot of wear out of, even though it's so dark I can't figure out how to photograph the sweater so that you can see the cute eyelet details around the edges.

If I had it to do over again, I'd make the next size up. I usually make a size down from where my measurements would put me because I'm a loose knitter, but in this case that was a mistake. Even after some pretty aggressive blocking this cardigan wants to pull at the buttons. I suppose, since it's knitting, I could do it over again by frogging and beginning anew. But I'd rather slit my wrists.

If you're in the market for a cropped cardigan, I highly recommend the pattern (which is free, by the way!). It's top-down so there's minimal finishing. Otherwise it would probably have languished for another two years in my almost-done pile. It knits up quickly and there's just enough eyelet happening to wake you up after the rows of stockinette. Plus it looks cute on everyone who's tried it.

I'm saving Zoe's hair to try spinning it up for a white version...NOT!